Ace Online

Ace Online is an innovative 3D Sci Fi Shooter MMO where players control starfighter planes called ‘gears’ and fight it out in large scale battles. The game has over 100 quests, or missions, so the game’s grind is minimal. The game’s fast paced gameplay coupled with the sleek sci-fi graphics makes Ace Online well worth the download.

Ace Online Overview

Ace Online is an incredibly unique PvP oriented sci-fi MMO shooter. The best way to describe the game would be a fast paced PvP oriented StarFox. Sounds awesome, right? Well it is, so check it out. The game was originally released as ‘Space Cowboys’ in the United States and was published by Gpotato, but due to some licensing issues, Gpotato had to shut down their service for the game. The game has just recently be re-licensed to Subagames, so make sure you don’t play the game ‘Ace Online’ rather than ‘Air Rivals’ as Ace Online is the American version while ‘Air Rivals’ is the European version. Hop onto your gear and blast away your enemies in this fun fast paced sci fi MMO.

Ace Online Screenshots

Ace Online Feature Video

Full Review

Ace Online Review

By, Omer Altay

Both the MMO and MMORPG genres are full of copycats. It seems like more companies today are more interested in copying what their competitors are doing rather than trying to actually create a new product themselves. This issue is much more evident in the MMORPG market, but the MMO market has their copycats as well. Nowadays, every major MMO publisher has their own Tactical Shooter MMO and Racing MMO, all of them with different names, but in reality basically the same game. Games like Ace Online are a breath of fresh air into the MMO market, because it’s a genuinely unique game, and for that alone I applaud the game’s developers. The simplest way to describe Ace Online is an MMO PvP oriented StarFox.

StarFox Online + PvP = Fun!
Players in Ace Online pilot their own star fighters called ‘gears’ in various interesting environments ranging from the plain old sky to more detailed lunar maps. The premise of the game is simple, complete missions (quests ) for money, equipment and experience points then take part in the game’s massive player vs player components. The mission based aspect of the game is fairly repetitive and boring, but the core gameplay itself is a lot of fun, as in order to shoot down NPCs and players, you’ll physically need to aim your shots rather than just the standard ‘point and click’ combat that MMORPGs employ. In order to dodge enemy lasers and missiles, you’ll need to perform timely rolls and evasive actions, so the actual gameplay is heavily skill oriented. Although higher level players will have a definite edge in terms of attributes and superior ship parts, they’re still vulnerable to being destroyed by a skilled lower level opponent. The fact is, the gameplay in Ace Online is innovative, fast paced and fun.

Starting Out
When you first login to the game, you’ll have to choose one of the four starting gears, B-Gear, M-Gear, I-Gear and A-Gear. Each gear has its own strengths and weaknesses, with none of them being overpowered or underpowered, which makes the game well balanced. Each gear also has its own unique set of skills, which adds a bit of variety to the game. Upon selecting your gear you’ll be presented with a tutorial that explains the basics of the game; the tutorial is extremely detailed and does reward you with some items and experience, but I recommend you skip it unless you’re a beginner to the MMO genre. After completing the tutorial, or skipping it, you’ll be presented with a horribly translated incoherent cut scene that tries to explain the game’s story; it’s worth watching for a good laugh. After the short cut scene your journey in Ace Online will begin.

100 Vs 100 Epic Battles
PvP in Ace Online is the primary focus of the game, as the game’s missions really just serve as an introduction to the game and a way for players to earn enough money to upgrade their gears. PvP in the game is faction based, the games two factions are Bygeniou regular army and the Arlington rebel army. Players can join either of the two factions upon reaching level 11. The game has an interesting way of maintaining the balance between the two factions, as the game puts a tax on all item purchases on the faction with more players on it and the tax increases as the population difference between the factions grow. Since the game has a heavy emphasis on PvP, there is virtually open PvP with members of the opposing faction anywhere in the game world outside of the newbie zones. Every time you shoot down an enemy, you’ll be rewarded with a single fame point, killmark and nation point. Fame points are merely for player fame and status and Killmarks can be traded for experience and money in the game’s shop. Nation points help your entire faction, as whenever your faction accumulates a certain amount of points, a large warship will be summoned in the rival faction’s territory. The massive 100 vs 100 battles are also both extremely chaotic and fun, as the game makes it possible for even lower level players to enjoy themselves in the PvP, as superior equipment and levels alone don’t determine the outcome of a battle, player skill does.

Become the president!
One really interesting aspect of Ace Online is the game’s ‘president system’. The player who is the leader of the highest rated brigade (guild) on their faction can chose to become the leader of their faction by becoming president. This sounds neat, but becoming the president in Ace Online is extremely difficult, as only two people (one on each faction) get to become one on each server. The perks of being the leader of your faction are enormous though. The president gets his name highlighted in lime green and gets access to the most powerful weapons, armor and shields in the game along with the ability to coordinate large assaults and the ability to speak with the rival faction’s president. Chat between factions is disabled for normal players, so only the president is capable of negotiating agreements with the other faction. Although most players will never get a chance to be president of their faction, it’s still a fun addition to the game.

What are you waiting for?
Ace Online is hands down one of the most innovative MMOs out there, so if you’re looking for something new and different to play, this is definitely worth the download. The only real drawback to the game is that the first few hours of the game are incredibly repetitive and boring. Players will have to literally ‘grind’ through the game’s quests before they even think about participating in the game’s most enjoyable aspect, the PvP. The positive aspect of the quest grinding is that you’ll never actually have to grind NPCs, because the game has well over 100 ‘missions’ for you to complete. Ace Online is currently being published by ‘Subagames’ who also publish Crossfire, Metin 2, Priston Tale and Priston Tale 2, so if you have an account on any of those other games, you can use it for Ace Online.

Final Verdict: Great
Ace Online is a breath of fresh air in a genre that’s better known for imitating rather than innovating. The game’s fast paced gameplay along with the massive PvP system is an equation for fun. The only drawbacks are the game’s early game repetitive nature and the poorly translated mission dialogue, but the game is definitely worth the download.